Girls are (if you believe it or not) an important part of computing, they created platforms in computing which all men seem to claim for their own. Women have been very influential in computing, and the number of women in highly ranked computing jobs is rather significant. Women first made their stand in computing during 1842 where Ada Lovelace was described as the first computer programmer.
Women had several more successes in computing throughout the end of the 19th century and into the 20th Century . In 1965 Mary Allen Wilkes – a computer programmer, was not only the first developer of the first minicomputer but also the first person, ever, to use a private laptop in a private home. This seems to be the catalyst for what was a revolutionary stage for women in computing:
§ 1965: Sister Mary Kenneth Keller first American female Doctorate of Computer Science.
§ 1978: Sophie Wilson, designed the Acorn Microcomputer.
§ 1979: Carol Shaw, game designer and programmer for Atari Corp. and Activision
§ 1980: Carla Meninsky, game designer and programmer for Atari 2600 games Dodge 'Em and Warlords
§ 1984: Susan Kare, created icons and interface for the original Apple Macintosh
§ 1985: Irma Wyman, first Honeywell CIO
§ 1997: Anita Borg, the founding director of the Institute for Women and Technology (IWT)
§ 2004: Jeri Ellsworth, self-taught computer chip designer & creator of C64 Direct-to-TV
§ 2005: Mary Lou Jepsen, Founder and CTO of One Laptop Per Child; founder of Pixel Qi.
§ 2006: Frances E. Allen, first female recipient of the ACM's Turing Award
§ 2009: Barbara H. Liskov, winner of the ACM’s Turing prize
It was also been proven that girls coming from families of engineers; where one or both parents are involved in a field closely related to Computer Science are more likely to enter the field. This is due to their experience with computing which usually dates back to a very early age and as a result have a closer connection and therefore a better reason to stay in computing; compared to if they were relatively new to computing. In 2009, there was research issued that had found if you are a female executive, in IT you are more likely to be paid more than your equal man part than any other industry with an average 2% higher pay than them.
Yet, there is a concern for the young women who show an interest in technology later in their high schooling years. This is because they give it up due to the unpleasant working environment, bad teaching, high pressure and usually negative stereotypes. These factors are ruining every girl’s chance at developing a good base for future generations to work in and around. So, it is a necessity that this group of girls, such as myself, need to be encouraged to stay in Computer Science and develop their potential further in order to allow not only themselves a happy and enjoyable future but those after them. We are the ones who have the opportunity to infiltrate the mainly male dominated area and should take advantage of this.
So guys, the challenge is for you to not mock and laugh at those girls succeeding in computing class but support them and make use of their skills in a way that will encourage them to follow the path into computing. You never know one of us could be your boss one day.
